As it turns out, people occasionally come up with some pretty interesting theories about me. So far, I've had people darn near accuse me of being in the military and ask me if I secretly teach math for a living. For the most part, this usually happens because people don't know me very well. In those two examples, the people asking me these things were either people I didn't know, or those whom I had just met. So, I just laughed it off.
Recently, though, I've had people I work with fairly consistently come up with a few entries to this list. Remember, some of these people have interacted with me on a daily basis for years. And even if I haven't talked to them directly every single one of those days, we work in an open environment where other people can overhear conversations. Even snippets of conversations give you a pretty good idea of what someone's about if you hear enough of them.
The first one is actually an oldie but a goodie. A couple of folks I see in the office had no idea how old I was. They thought I was about 7 or 8 years younger than I actually am. Yes, yes, I realize that this is a compliment. I'm not exactly complaining. But if you've heard me talk about working in a different group about a decade ago, it's a pretty safe bet that I've been out of college for more than a couple of years. In fact, one other coworker said pretty much the same thing. We all had a good laugh after that.
The second one, however, is far less excusable. As I've mentioned before, I shave my head. I have been doing this since my college days, but I can find a blog post as old as 2009 talking about coworkers and my hair style. My point is, this is nothing new. If you've run into me any time in the last few years, you've almost certainly seen me without much hair. So, you'd think the people in the group for which I've worked for the last few years to know this about me. You would think right, with one very notable exception.
This guy walked into the office, saw me sitting at my desk, and asked me, "are you okay?!" In his mind, he thought I'd just gone through chemo or something. Mind you, he was the only one to question my health, so it's not like I looked deathly ill. I wasn't sneezing because of allergies, fighting off a cold, or otherwise less than healthy. Nope, it was just a regular old day. And the guy thought something was wrong because I had shaved my head.
Remember, this is someone who has been in and around my general vicinity for multiple years. You'd think that at some point during that stretch, he would've glanced at my head. Alas, no.
However, I'm starting to think that I should just run with it. Instead of being surprised by the interesting theories, I should encourage them. That way, I can build up an intrigue around myself. Pretty soon, people will be telling stories about how I killed a man during a vacation. Who's going to be mean to me then? International man of mystery, here I come.
Recently, though, I've had people I work with fairly consistently come up with a few entries to this list. Remember, some of these people have interacted with me on a daily basis for years. And even if I haven't talked to them directly every single one of those days, we work in an open environment where other people can overhear conversations. Even snippets of conversations give you a pretty good idea of what someone's about if you hear enough of them.
The first one is actually an oldie but a goodie. A couple of folks I see in the office had no idea how old I was. They thought I was about 7 or 8 years younger than I actually am. Yes, yes, I realize that this is a compliment. I'm not exactly complaining. But if you've heard me talk about working in a different group about a decade ago, it's a pretty safe bet that I've been out of college for more than a couple of years. In fact, one other coworker said pretty much the same thing. We all had a good laugh after that.
The second one, however, is far less excusable. As I've mentioned before, I shave my head. I have been doing this since my college days, but I can find a blog post as old as 2009 talking about coworkers and my hair style. My point is, this is nothing new. If you've run into me any time in the last few years, you've almost certainly seen me without much hair. So, you'd think the people in the group for which I've worked for the last few years to know this about me. You would think right, with one very notable exception.
This guy walked into the office, saw me sitting at my desk, and asked me, "are you okay?!" In his mind, he thought I'd just gone through chemo or something. Mind you, he was the only one to question my health, so it's not like I looked deathly ill. I wasn't sneezing because of allergies, fighting off a cold, or otherwise less than healthy. Nope, it was just a regular old day. And the guy thought something was wrong because I had shaved my head.
Remember, this is someone who has been in and around my general vicinity for multiple years. You'd think that at some point during that stretch, he would've glanced at my head. Alas, no.
However, I'm starting to think that I should just run with it. Instead of being surprised by the interesting theories, I should encourage them. That way, I can build up an intrigue around myself. Pretty soon, people will be telling stories about how I killed a man during a vacation. Who's going to be mean to me then? International man of mystery, here I come.
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